Zach Dorfman, Jenna McLaughlin, and Sean D. Naylor, reporting for Yahoo News: On Dec. 29, 2016, the Obama administration announced that it was giving nearly three dozen Russian diplomats just 72 hours to leave the United States and was seizing two rural East Coast estates owned by the Russian government. As the Russians burned papers and scrambled to pack their bags,…
Tag: Spies
Israel Accused of Planting Mysterious Spy Devices Near the White House
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Politico: The U.S. government concluded within the past two years that Israel was most likely behind the placement of cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, according to three former senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. But unlike most other occasions when flagrant…
NASA’s Spitzer spies a perfectly sideways galaxy
This image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope might look like a lightsaber floating in space, but it’s actually an entire galaxy viewed on its side. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-08-nasa-spitzer-spies-perfectly-sideways.html…
NYT Publishes Anti-Google Rant, Doesn’t Mention Author Is Facebook Board Member
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: The New York Times published an anti-Google screed by billionaire Peter Thiel last night but failed to mention a fun fact that readers might find relevant: Thiel sits on the board of Facebook, one of Google’s largest competitors. Thiel first blasted Google as “treasonous” last month, saying that the FBI and CIA should…
Eight of the World’s Biggest Technology Service Providers Were Hacked by Chinese Cyber Spies in an Elaborate and Years-Long Invasion
The invasion exploited weaknesses in those companies, their customers, and the Western system of technological defense, Reuters reported on Wednesday. From the report: Hacked by suspected Chinese cyber spies five times from 2014 to 2017, security staff at Swedish telecoms equipment giant Ericsson had taken to naming their response efforts after different types of wine. Pinot Noir began in September 2016….
Scientists Use Sound To See Around Corners
sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Spies may soon have another tool to carry out their shadowy missions: a new device that uses sound to “see” around corners. Previously, researchers developed gadgets that bounced light waves around corners to catch reflections and see things out of the line of sight. To see whether they could do something similar with sound,…
Spy Used AI-Generated Face To Connect With Targets
Raphael Satter, writing for AP: Katie Jones sure seemed plugged into Washington’s political scene. The 30-something redhead boasted a job at a top think tank and a who’s-who network of pundits and experts, from the centrist Brookings Institution to the right-wing Heritage Foundation. She was connected to a deputy assistant secretary of state, a senior aide to a senator and the…
ALMA spies a cool gas ring around our Milky Way’s central black hole
New observations by the ALMA telescope in Chile have revealed a never-before-seen disk of cool, interstellar gas wrapped around Sagittarius A*, the giant black hole at the center of our galaxy. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/cool-gas-ring-milky-way-central-black-hole…
To Protect Secrets, US Won’t Charge Assange Over Exposing CIA Tools, Reports Politico
Some interesting news from Politico. America’s Justice Department will still prosecute Julian Assange for allegedly assisting Chelsea Manning, and for 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act — but “has decided not to charge Julian Assange for his role in exposing some of the CIA’s most secret spying tools, according to a U.S. official and two other people familiar with the…
In Baltimore and Beyond, a Stolen NSA Tool Wreaks Havoc
For nearly three weeks, Baltimore has struggled with a cyberattack by digital extortionists that has frozen thousands of computers, shut down email and disrupted real estate sales, water bills, health alerts and many other services. From a report: But here is what frustrated city employees and residents do not know: A key component of the malware that cybercriminals used in the…